Phyllis Kaberry

Phyllis Mary Kaberry (17 September 1910 – 31 October 1977) was a social anthropologist who dedicated her work to the study of women in various societies. Particularly with her work in both Australia and Africa, she paved the way for a feminist approach in anthropological studies. Her research on the sacred life and significant role of women in Australian Aboriginal culture proved to be a controversial topic, as anthropology during her years of early fieldwork was male-dominated, filled with the misconceptions that men were the superior in any aspect of life. Contributing proof of women's significance to societal development and organisation, Kaberry was an influential and significant anthropologist.

Early life and education Kaberry was born in San Francisco to architect Lewis Kaberry (1878–1962) and Hettie Emily Kaberry ( Coggins; 1884–1975). Her parents were British immigrants, originally from Yorkshire. They emigrated not long before Kaberry's birth. Both were Christian Scientists. In 1913, Kaberry, her parents and two brothers moved to New South Wales, Australia, and eventually to Sydney. Kaberry attended the Fort Street Girls' High School.

Kaberry attended the University of Sydney in 1930, graduating with a BA in English and philosophy with an emphasis on Latin and history in 1933, and a MA in anthropology in 1934, with first-class honors. She then did field work with the Aboriginal peoples in northern Australia from 1934 to 1936, completing her PhD in anthropology at London School of Economics with the doctoral thesis, The position of women in an Australian aboriginal society in 1939 under Bronislaw Malinowski.

During her first years as a graduate student, Kaberry took an interest in New Guinea. Her master's thesis was the result of this interest, and was a survey of the effects of government policies on native conditions. Such an issue would also be seen in her later work in Australia and Africa. She later renewed her Melanesian interests after 1939 when she travelled to New Guinea to study the social organisation among the Abelam people of the Sepik District. She became curious in Melanesian food, specifically the central role yams played. World War II shortened her stay.

Research in Kimberley region of Western Australia

After completing her master's degree in anthropology, Kaberry received a grant from the Australian National Research Council (ANRC) to conduct research within the country. Her advisor, Elkin, suggested her fieldwork reside in the Kimberley region of Western Australia to study the cultures of the Aboriginal groups there. Elkin was a large advocate for the humane treatment and preservation of the native Australian populations – his views driven by his awareness of poor living conditions, maltreatment, and the gradual erasing of their traditional beliefs and values. Following Elkin's advice, Kaberry travelled to the Kimberley region. Like many anthropologists, Kaberry dealt with difficult conditions, which she embraced. Conducting research among cattle and mission stations, she encountered language barriers and constant resettlement due to seasonal migrations – hence a mobile lifestyle.

Adopting a participant observation approach, Kaberry shifted between multiple groups of people, becoming deeply involved with the daily lifestyles of the women. Often needing a translator, she chose the most outspoken woman of each group to assist her with translation as well as a way to entice other women into speaking about private aspects of Aboriginal female life. Much of her work was dependent on the two distinct seasons. During the dry season, Kaberry resided in the cattle and mission stations collecting genealogies by interviewing women from various camps. Kaberry questioned the accuracy of her research of Aboriginal tradition during the dry season. This was because the lifestyle within the cattle and mission stations established by non-natives was altered by European contact. She found that Aboriginal traditional life was more prominent in the wet season. Kaberry witnessed traditional ceremonies and real customs – an opportunity to see "native life" as it once was. Over the roughly three years that she studied the Aboriginal society of the Kimberley region, she focused on kinship, religion, the economic and social organisation of women, as well as the influence of European contact.

After returning from the field, she enrolled in the London School of Economics after receiving a scholarship. In 1938, she received her PhD in anthropology, and one year later published Aboriginal Woman Sacred and Profane. This book had a quiet but strong impact on women studies in the field of anthropology. At the time of publication, anthropology was widely male dominated, and thus her book received great amounts of criticism for suggesting that women were equal to that of men and possessed their own value of sacredness. At this time, Aboriginal women were seen as purely erotic beings or "domesticated cows" and were thought to have little influence in cultural development, devoid of a sacred life with their institutions defined as inferior to those of males.

Awards and fellowships Yale Sterling Fellowship Carnegie Fellowship Rivers Memorial Medal of the Royal Anthropological Institute Wellcome Medal in Applied Anthropology

Footnotes ¹ The Nso' of Cameroon are also known as the Nsaw. In Kaberry's book Women of the Grasslands, she refers to them as Nsaw.